News Detail

Birnie Receives Fulbright Scholar Award

Dr. Christine Birnie, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, in the St. John Fisher College Wegmans School of Pharmacy, has been named a Fulbright Scholar.

Birnie’s grant will allow her to teach and support program development within the newly established Pharm.D. program at SRM University in Chennai, India, during the fall 2013 semester.

“I am honored and humbled to receive this award and look forward to the opportunities it will present to me personally and to the College,” said Birnie. “Part of my plan is to establish collaborations between their University and Fisher. I am excited about this potential collaboration as it is a focused initiative within our school’s strategic plan.”

Birnie received her B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and continued her studies at the same institution, completing a Ph.D. in the area of Pharmaceutics. After a few years working in the pharmaceutical industry, she joined the ranks of academia, joining the faculty of Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, FL., helping to develop the compounding laboratories and pharmaceutical science curriculum in the newly founded school. In 2006, Birnie joined the Wegmans School of Pharmacy as a founding faculty and was promoted to Department Chair, Pharmaceutical Sciences, in 2010.

Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program's purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.

Recipients of the Fulbright Scholar awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and because they have demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential in their fields. The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.